X-Force: Age of Archangel
by Masterless
Summary: The 'what if/fan depiction' of the Second run of Wolverine's X-Force. Four new faces for the Horsemen of Death; a strong willed Ninja facing an enemy that holds the face of her former lover; what if there was a point where it was too late and Archangel chooses his bride for his 'coming of age?
1. Chapter 1

Fatigue could have taken a hold of her a long time ago but perseverance is a stronger force that resides within Psylocke. As a member of the X-Men, Psylocke has endured a myriad of dangerous missions and now being part of the clandestine group known as The X-Force, the missions have gotten deadlier, bloodier, and far more brutality than the X-Men could handle. Secrecy had always been part of the X-Force methods and for the most part, Psylocke adheres to the idea for the simple fact that the majority of her X-Men teammates would not be able to stomach the amount of blood she and the X-Force had spilled. Though at this current moment, Betsy has a slight ambiguity to the X-Force code of secrecy. Being held captive for unknown amount of hours does a lot towards someone's point of view and for someone with will as strong as Betsy, it's no different. Perhaps if someone else knew about her mission aside from Wolverine, perhaps back up would come faster but the truth is rescue is obscure and perhaps may not even arrive in time. Whatever plans her captors have for her, it's not a simple a simple death for sure; for what she had already endured, this ordeal will be a slow, painful, and humiliating outcome, which is why she can't sit here and wait for rescue. Escaping is going to be done on her own accord no matter how bleak it may be. Closing her eyes and trying her best to relax in her current position, Psylocke proceeds to tap into her power.

_"__Don't try it little Butterfly." _

As if the annoying voice wasn't enough, the sudden painful jolt in her head causes Psylocke to bite down on the ball that is wedged between her teeth.

_"__Did I not tell you that trying to get a hold of your mutant powers means you're knocking on my door?"_

The pain increases and Pyslocke writhes in her bonds, tugging on the ropes that are holding her arms above her head, trying desperately to get some sort of reprieve from the blaring agony that one of her hosts is instilling on her. Despite the constant hours she spent pulling against the strong knots had gained her nowhere closer to freedom, she has to try again. Something has to give… either the ropes that are holding her captive or her… and giving in isn't exactly Psylocke's style; though the thought is comforting since it seems its what **_he_** wants.

_"__You're lucky, Butterfly," _the pain stops immediately right after the words echoes in her mind. _"If it wasn't for __**his**__ words, I would've eased myself into every chasm of your mind and used your very own thoughts against you."_

With those words, the assault on her mind abruptly stops giving Psylocke the solace she had been screaming for through the uncomfortable ball placed between her mouth. No longer bombarded by the splitting headache, Psylocke slumps down on her bonds, resting her exhausted body on the pillar that she is bound to; well as much as her position would allow her to relax. Though she is well aware that this moment of reprieve is temporary, Betsy has gotten accustomed to the idea that the little things of comfort is sometimes what counts. Taking a deep breath through her nose, Psylcoke straightens her back, pressing it against the cold metal of this 'aesthetic' pillar she is bound to. If she can't access her powers without being tortured, perhaps she can at least calm her nerves by depending on some meditation; an act that she seldom has time to do since her life is rather erratic. Well as of this given moment, she isn't going anywhere; her captors had made sure of that. Trying not to mind the uncomfortable way she is sitting down and the way her legs are forced to spread because of the way both are bent to the fullest through ropes, Psylocke closes her eyes and remains as still as she can… listening to her breathing and to the cold silence of this dark room that she has found to be her 'room' for the duration of her captivity. Perhaps through serenity, Besty can find something to help her get out of this situation; that is if her captors don't interrupt her any time soon. As it is, privacy isn't even hers as four pair of eyes are on the other side of the cold walls.

"She has determination," one of her captors speaks, "I'll give her that."

"That is not all she has," he replies to the statement with a bit of pride laced in his words. "Elizabeth Braddock is my perfect bride when the _Age_ _of Archangel_ begins."

Taking one good look at Psylocke who is remaining as still as she can, he turns the other way and heads for the door in a slow and intimidating manner; His 'metal cloak' dragging slightly on the ground making Psylocke's guard cringe at the sound of sharp metal scraping against concrete. Capturing Psylocke was the first step; the next has yet to be revealed.

**To Be Continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

Neena's mutant powers had everything to do with luck—the ability to generate a field that would alter certain things to her favor. In the years being one of Cable's trusted members, Neena has proven herself with both her powers and her skills in combat (both weaponry and martial arts). It's of no surprise that when Cyclops and Wolverine's newly formed X-Force assembled, Neena would find herself amidst their ranks and eventually gaining their trust—and inadvertently, gaining a rapport with their new leader, Wolverine himself. If someone were to tell her that the two of them have some sort of feelings for each other, she would probably have very little qualms shooting this said person down before Wolverine can even extract his claws. He is as he always is: the best at what he does and how he does it in bed is apparently one of the best she has ever experienced. Somehow, she gets the feeling that it's just for the sex and nothing else. She doesn't mind if it is though since he is _damn_ good at what he does.

How good is he?

Apparently good enough to lead Neena to the dangerous mission she found herself fumbling on a little detail, thus the situation she finds herself now. A mission so dangerous that even her own powers might have ran dry; it wasn't her lucky day so to speak.

"Uuuuuu!" Domino shrieks as the pain of getting backhanded across the face registers.

"That was for breaking my nose, mutie!"

"Ufh nuug hu mufh fuuhmmuhm num!" Domino tries to reply through the stuffing, but of course it doesn't come out as sarcastic as she would like. Having tried to rub the tape off of her lips for a long time, Neena had given up and just decided that she'll just continue the 'conversation' these people are trying to have with her despite the gag.

"Stop messing around with her!" one of her captors calls out from behind.

"I don't know why we are keeping her alive," the man who is standing next to the one who just struck her comments, "these muties are as dangerous as they come."

"This one's a looker though."

Domino rolls her eyes feeling completely sick from the words that came out of her captor's mouth.

"Careful! She might be using her mutie power thing to get you to think like that!"

If only her powers could work that way, but alas, it's not so much helping her one bit. No luck in finding some kind of way to slip her wrists out of the cuffs that are keeping her hands behind her. Not to mention, she is safely secured on the chair by a few strands of rope that her captors lashed on her without remorse. What Domino wouldn't give to have the ability to just break free of the ropes with some super strength instead of having to just remain seated and degraded.

"She's not using no stinkin' mutie powers," the one who seems to lead them states as he walks into the light, brandishing his pocket knife dangerously so that Domino can see. "She's not going anywhere. Not tonight, and by tomorrow, she'll be delivered in pieces."

The laughter that followed by this man's gang makes Domino's blood boil, though she has very little time to mind their taunting as their ring leader seems to be taking it upon himself to get a closer look at Domino—too close for her own taste and she makes it known by glowering at him while mumbling obscenities through the tape. Though as expected, her disdain isn't taken to consideration as the dark skinned man grabs the chair closest and sits himself in front of Domino. For a moment he says nothing, but there isn't much to be said with the grin on his face. His expression says it all along with the sound of him playing with his knife.

"I'm going to pitch in with the rest of these assholes' opinion mutie," the slimy grin turns into a malicious one as he eases himself even closer—too close. Close to the point that his lips is almost touching Domino's taped ones. "You are a looker, and for that, we are going to have fun with you before we make an example out of you to the rest of your stinkin' kind."

If it wasn't the foul smell of cigarette on his breath, the words and the proximity really agitates Domino to no limit. Though nothing prepares her when he grabs the zipper of her black suit and starts to pull it down, revealing more of her pale skin. Straining against the cuffs and ropes, Domino screams from the top of her lungs despite the duct tape and trying fervently to get away from the action. She tries to headbutt him, but no avail. She would even try to kick him, stomp on his feet, something, but the fact that the ropes are holding her legs tightly on the chair legs prevents her from doing so. Soon her skin tight leather suit is down to her naval, which of course reveals too much of her than Domino would like. The fact that the other men are now taking liberty in 'drooling' over the sight of her cleavage enhances the feeling of grime to a whole new level than she would like.

"Uun'm uh muhnn!" Domino snarls through the tape.

"We'll give your tits some chance to breath, mutie," the words doesn't click with Domino, but the knife trailing up her bare skin and towards her bra does, "and then we'll start the fun."

The entire time the sharp blade ominously grazed on her skin, Domino stood still. The only thing she could do is glare and whimper through her gag as the blade seems to settle on the process of cutting the black sports bra underneath her leather attire. Luck doesn't seem to be on her side this night that is until gunshots suddenly echoes from the outside.

"What the hell is going on?!"

Domino lets out a 'whew' as the men turn their attention away from her. For a moment, she is given the chance to sag in her bonds and allow some sort of solace from having been the center of attention for the past hour or so. Despite how bleak this still seems for her, Domino can't help but feel relieved. She is more than willing to gamble that the cause of the gunshots are from a reason that would be to her favor.

"No one is responding from the outside!"

"All I'm getting is static!"

"Everyone shut the fuck up and turn on your shields," the ringleader shouts over his men as he does exactly what he says, "chances are this might be more muties! Protect your godamn mind at the very least!"

Immediately after he presses the button on his headpiece, Domino watches as he prepares his handgun. A small grin forms underneath the black duct tape. They might have taken care of one problem, but that's only one out of the others they have to deal with. Judging from the sounds of gunshots and the agonizing screams that are getting closer, the battle will be on their doorstep sooner than they know and for that, Domino almost pities them. _Almost_.

"Troy," one of them frantically aims his gun at the door, "w-we… we better kill that mutie before…"

Before he was able to finish that sentence, the metal door suddenly gets punctured and Domino immediately knows. The men react by barraging the door with bullets, every single one of them giving it their all for at least a minute but when the firing is over, they are met with a slew of projectiles that are in the form of sharp blades—or better yet, sharp metal feathers coming from Archangel's wings. Almost immediately the result of the retaliation causes their ranks in disarray and Domino feels even more sorry for them since it's just the beginning. As if the door is made out of glass, it shatters as the winged mutant flies through and takes a gunman with him and off to a direction where Domino can't see. From there X-23 follows, eyes fuming with the intent to kill as she rushes forward, stabbing a man in the side of the neck with the claw on her foot before twisting her body in unfathomable ways to assault the next closest person with her other claws. Psylocke, flashy and yet full of finesse strikes next, her katana glowing with her psi-energy, cutting through her assailant as if she herself possesses adamantium blades. Warpath may not have energy-powered blades but the fact that he has vibranium knives and knows how to use it makes him as affective in killing as the other three that entered before him. Wolfsbane's addition, feral and full of angst is almost overkill since the numbers were cut (some literally) to half in less than a few minutes while Domino remains seated in a demure manner as her team does what they do best.

"I'm at least going to get one of you muties," Troy, the ringleader, is now upon Domino with his right hand pointing his gun at her. "When you get to hell, you can let them know—"

A cry from above followed by a blur of black and grey ends Troy's words rather quickly. Seeing Wolverine crouching over Troy's carcass is something of a relief and Domino lets out a cheer despite her restraints. Though Wolverine spends a bit too much time letting his claws sink in the back of Troy's head before finally getting up and giving Domino his full attention; blood drips from his signature weapons as he stands there grinning at his helpless X-Force teammate.

"You comfy, Dom?" he taunts as he pulls out a cigar from one of his belt pouches. "I hope so. The rest of the team looks like they're enjoying some hard night's work, eh?"

"Uuhmn um Muguhn!"

"Told you not to go off on your own. Think I'll just let that lesson sit for while."

"MUNUN! Unmun mn HNNHH NUU!" Domino's complaints are accompanied by a vehement struggle against the ropes holding her hostage to the chair. Her thrashing about are so aggressive that the chair itself starts creaking as if it's about to break under the duress of her Domino's actions.

"Okay, I get it. Don't get your panties in a bunch."

Exhaling another cloud of smoke, Wolverine walks behind the chair Domino is bound to and proceeds to _finally_ undo her binds. His claws making the process as easy as one could imagine; even the metal links of the cuffs stood no chance and in less than a few seconds, Domino finds her arms free, which leaves her to rip the tape off. After that, she immediately spits out the cloth, licking her lips before giving Wolverine a good glare.

"Took your damn time!"

As passionate as she is about scolding her 'teammate', Domino puts diligent effort on freeing her legs from their bonds. While the knots are not expertly done, they do hold some annoyance to them that it takes a bit of time to free right foot before proceeding to her left.

"Was enjoying the show," a chuckle comes out of Wolverine as he said those words. "But I think I was faster in getting your clothes off than these guys were."

"Is Sex and Violence the only thing that goes through you head, Logan?"

"If it isn't just that, it will be the other shit that doesn't need to be in my mind, darlin'."

They might not have had the longest relationship, but Domino knows what was insinuated behind the words he just said. Deciding that poking at that thought will not suit the situation, Domino stands up and enjoys the feeling of finally having her limbs stretched out. She then proceeds to zip her suit back up before grabbing her belt that her captors lay on a nearby table to taunt her. Then Domino checks her guns to make sure they are properly loaded. In hopes that there is still some action left, both Domino and Wolverine are shocked at what they see next as they turn towards the chaos. The bloodshed, the mauled bodies, and the black and grey display of their teammates are the things they are used to, but the sight of Archangel looming over one of his kills with a malicious grin is a sight that doesn't exactly bode well. His wings smeared with blood and other bodily parts as he prepares to further disembowel what is left of the man who attempted to shoot him.

"Warren," Psylocke calls to him with slow steady steps towards his direction. "It's over."

"**_Death_**…." The response coming from their winged ally doesn't exactly give them any sort of guarantee that what Psylocke says its true. With his eyes glowing in a furious shade of red, he lifts one wing and slams it down on the dead body causing blood and body remnants splattering everywhere, including himself. "**_DEATH!_**"

"Logan?" Domino grasps her handgun with both hands as she prepares to aim.

"Warren, what's gotten into you, bub?!"

Archangel responds with a growl followed by a quick change in the posture of his wings, which highly sends the rest of X-Force into alert. His stance, the glow in his eyes, and the obvious aggression emanating from Archangel is enough to cause all of them to prepare themselves to retaliate.

"**Death**_ …. **I am DEATH!**_"

"Betsy… what's wrong with him?" the sound of Warpath's voice causes Archangel to turn his attention to him.

"Shall I engage?"

"Laura, no!" Psylocke responds to X-23 who is more than ready to attack on Wolverine's whim.

"Bets, you better handle this fast before we have to do something!"

"Can't you see I'm trying, Logan?"

"You know what you have to do, so do it!"

Even if Psylcoke had any qualms with Wolverine's order, she isn't given much options since Archangel's wings expands, the bladed feathers become hostile and it's more than obvious that he is about to attack. Reacting accordingly, Psylocke's psychic 'butterfly' energy surrounds her face and soon after, the same insignia appears on Archangel. What words won't accomplish, a bit of persuasion within the chasms of Warren's mind will do the trick. Wolverine is well aware of this 'treatment', thus why Psylocke is probably one of his most valued members; aside from the long history between Betsy and Warren, she is also the only one who can calm the entity known as Death—the one who resides within Warren's mind that allows him to be the deadly Archangel. And the result was almost immediate as Archangel suddenly loses composure and changes back to Angel in a matter of minutes. Gone are the sharp lethal wings, the grey and black infamous 'Angel of Death' costume, and his skin no longer pale blue. As he falls to the ground, his angelic white wings covers drapes over him, acting like some kind of blanket as he falls into a deep slumber. The procedure also took a lot out of Psylocke and if it wasn't for Warpath catching her, she probably would have found herself on the ground as well.

"Care to tell me what was all of that, old man?" while still holding the weakened Psylocke, Warpath turns his full attention to the X-Force leader.

"Yeah, consider me curious as to what the hell was that about."

Domino's pitching in with the sarcastic tone of voice she used wasn't appreciated and completely out of place and received a rather agitated glare from Wolverine. Though by now everyone has their eyes on Logan, except for X-23 who is making sure that there are no survivors amongst the bloodshed. Rahne, now fully out of her lupine form, stares at the unconscious Angel and walks away with a sorrowful expression on her face, leaving Warpath and Domino waiting for an explanation.

"Warren is sick," Wolverine finally replies. "His wings being ripped out didn't do his head any good."

That was the part that Rahne was trying to not hear, but she heard it, despite the distance she put between herself and the team.

"I thought you said he had it under control?!"

"He told me he had it under control, Jimmy. When I found out he didn't, that's when Bets came in the picture."

"I thought we just wanted a pretty ninja in our team to even out the testosterone level," and once again Domino received an unwelcome glare, but this time Warpath joins in. "What?"

"Liked you better when you had your mouth tapped, darlin'."

"We'd better get going," finally getting the strength she needed, Psylocke stands on her own again while Warpath stays close just in case. "We have a _lot_ of things to do and talk about."

**To Be Continued. **


End file.
